Good News from the EU has come in.
Attempts to overturn the EU ban on Canadian Commercial Seal Products have been on going and the Canadian Government has spent millions in their pro-slaughter campaigns as well as we all know.
There is a huge difference between Inuit who hunt seals to provide food for their families and who DO NOT waste any part of the seals that are killed humanely and the Commercial Sealers who club seal pups and often skin them alive for the sole purpose of profit.
The debate has raged on for decades and despite the World Wide Protests the Canadian Government has allowed this mass and horrific slaughter to continue despite the fact that the EU banned the importation of seal products obtained in this manner some time ago.
We have all seen the horrific pictures and videos published by major Animal Welfare Groups around the world.
Well, this time, there are no graphic and bloody pictures to include in this post. Instead, please click on the Press Release to the left and read some good news for a change.
Anyone wishing a complete copy of the Judgement can contact me, and I will try to send via email to you.
Below is an Excerpt contained in the EU Judgment:
JUDGMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT (Seventh Chamber)
25 April 2013 (*)
(Trade in seal products – Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 – Detailed rules for implementation – Regulation (EU) No 737/2010 – Prohibition on placing such products on the market – Exception in favour of Inuit communities – Plea of illegality – Legal basis – Subsidiarity – Proportionality – Misuse of powers )
Judgment
Facts, procedure and forms of order sought
1 On 16 September 2009, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 on trade in seal products (OJ 2009 L 286, p. 36) (‘the basic regulation’), which, according to Article 1 thereof, has as its purpose the establishment of harmonised rules concerning the placing on the market of seal products.
2 Article 3(1) of the basic regulation provides:
‘The placing on the market of seal products shall be allowed only where the seal products result from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities and contribute to their subsistence. These conditions shall apply at the time or point of import for imported products.’
3 Recital 14 in the preamble to the basic regulation states in that regard that the fundamental economic and social interests of Inuit communities engaged in the hunting of seals as a means to ensure their subsistence should not be adversely affected. According to that recital, the hunt is an integral part of the culture and identity of the members of the Inuit society, and as such is recognised by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Therefore, the placing on the market of seal products which result from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities and which contribute to their subsistence should be allowed.
4 It follows from Article 3(4) and Article 5(3) of the basic regulation that measures for, inter alia, the implementation of the authorisation in favour of Inuit communities have to be adopted by the European Commission.
5 Article 8 of the basic regulation provides that, although that regulation is to enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, Article 3 is to apply from 20 August 2010.
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38 Similarly, recitals 4 and 5 in the preamble to the basic regulation state that ‘[t]he hunting of seals has led to expressions of serious concerns by members of the public and governments sensitive to animal welfare considerations’ because of the suffering caused to those animals when they were killed and skinned, and that it was. ‘[i]n response to concerns of citizens and consumers about … animal welfare … and the possible presence on the market of products obtained from animals killed and skinned in a way that causes … suffering, [that] several Member States [had] adopted or intend[ed] to adopt legislation regulating trade in seal products by prohibiting the import and production of such products, while no restrictions [were] placed on trade in these products in other Member States’.
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42 Moreover, it should be noted that the protection of animal welfare is a legitimate objective in the public interest, the importance of which was reflected, in particular, in the adoption by the Member States of the Protocol on the protection and welfare of animals, annexed to the EC Treaty (OJ 1997 C 340, p. 110). Moreover, the Court has held on a number of occasions that the interests of the Union include the health and protection of animals (judgment of 10 September 2009 in Case C‑100/08 Commission v Belgium, not published in the ECR, paragraph 91).
